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Wednesday, March 12, 2014

BoB Gloat

Eleanor & Park has moved on to Round 2 of the Battle of the Books. Did I not call it? I did. And this success has given me enough arrogance to think I can predict tomorrow's winner.

Far, Far Away goes up against the Newbery-winner, Flora and Ulysses. One is about the ghost of Jacob Grimm. The other is about a squirrel who has a life-changing run-in with a vacuum cleaner. Hmm, ghost? Or Squirrel? Ghost...squirrel...ghost...squirrel.

Before I cast my prediction into InterSpace, let me say I found both books to be great reads. The language in Flora and Ulysses is delicious. Far, Far Away is populated by people who appear to mimic stock fairy tale characters... and then, they don't. One is a romp through family dynamics and poetry. The other takes breath-taking twists through grief and loss into depravity. It's pretty much like deciding between a flashlight and a coil of rope. Both are useful but pick the wrong one and you are stranded.

There. My weighty analysis is done. I pick the SQUIRREL!!!!!!!! (Full disclosure here. I am a big fan of stories about squirrels.) And for those who didn't read either book, that would be Flora and Ulysses as tomorrow's winner.